


Most Nights

by nyagosstar



Series: Better With Two [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 05:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4467923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyagosstar/pseuds/nyagosstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a new face in the Herald's Rest and Krem is of a mind to get an introduction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Most Nights

Most nights, Krem spends a few hours in the Herald’s Rest with a revolving group of the Chargers before heading to bed. They tell each other their favorite stories, try to hook each other up with various Skyhold residents, play cards and drinking games. It fosters the same sense of camaraderie they build on the road, but with a safe roof over their heads and a soft bed to head off to as the night wears on. In fact, Krem thinks that joining the Inquisition as a whole is about one of the best moves they’ve ever made. The pay is steady, the fringe benefits are good, and they’re part of saving the world. Can’t really beat that.

Tonight he’s at a table with Dalish and Rocky who are playing their stupid knife game. It’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. They’re not expected out in the field any time soon, so he’s not stopping them, but he’s sure as fuck not going to join them.

Most of his attention is on Dorian’s table. Usually, he’s next to the chief bitching about the cold or the food or the ale. But tonight, he’s got a smile to light up the room and another Tevene sitting at his table, the two of them bent in close together talking and laughing. The chief sat with them for a bit when they first arrived, but Krem guesses he got bored with their snooty talk and went off for a round of cards with Varric. 

Dorian’s companion has a good face, open and inviting. Honest in the way Krem doesn’t expect from other Tevenes. When the guy gets up to go to the bar for another round of drinks, Krem leaves his table with Dalish and drops into a seat across from Dorian.

“Who’s your friend?” Krem points to the bar.

Dorian seems confused. “Felix?”

Krem watches as Felix starts chatting with the bartender and Cabot actually answers in something more than one word sentences. “Altus?” He seems a little sturdier than your average mage, but it was hard to tell, sometimes.

“Yes.” Dorian draws the word out, killing time as he obviously tries to figure out Krem’s angle.

“Stuck up and class bound?” Most are. Dorian doesn’t like to believe that he is, but a lifetime of conditioning is hard to break. Krem gives him a little credit for trying. Sometimes.

The laugh that falls out of Dorian’s mouth is reassuring. “No. Felix was lecturing me about the injustice of the class system long before I ever left Tevinter.” 

Promising, then. He makes a thoughtful sound and Dorian swings his head around to examine Krem, the surprise on his face unbecoming.

“Really?”

Krem shrugs.

“Really. When you’ve had me here this whole time as a testament to the glory of the Altus class.”

Since the chief started doing whatever he was doing with Dorian, the mage was around a lot more. He doesn’t mind Dorian as much as he first did. Took Krem a while to see beneath the shitty, stuck-up airs he puts on with everyone. He’s a good looking guy and he knows it, uses his looks like a weapon, uses everything like a weapon. “I prefer my men less,” Krem lets his gaze flicker over Dorian. “Angular.”

Dorian huffs, but doesn’t argue. “Shall I introduce you?”

Krem is gracious enough to tip his head in thanks. 

“Though I must warn you, the odds are not in your favor. On the rare occasion Felix has indicated an interest, it has always been for women.”

Not bothered by the odds, Krem spreads his hands. Felix is headed back to the table with two tankards of ale and a grin on his face. If he’s an agemate of Dorian’s he looks young for his years. Maybe it’s the pampered Altus upbringing.

Felix sets a tankard in front of Dorian whose lip curls at the foamy beverage. He has a questioning smile for Krem as he sits. “Had I known we’d be having company, I’d have brought another.”

Ugh, manners. Krem is a sucker for manners. He sticks his hand across the table. “Krem Alcassi. A pleasure.” Felix has a firm grip, his hand warm and strong and Krem holds it just a moment longer than customary for a polite greeting.

“Dorian! You didn’t tell me there were more of us. You made it sound like you’ve been wasting away in a cultural abyss.” He gives Krem’s hand a final squeeze before pulling away. 

Dorian pushes the ale in front of Krem. “You have seen how close we are to the stables? And the wounded just lying in the middle of a muddy field?” He stands and claps Krem’s shoulder. “I’ve just remembered that the Inquisitor asked me to track down something for her, very important. I’ll see you in the morning?”

Krem can’t decide if Dorian is the best wingman ever or worst. “You have strange friends,” he says to a bemused Felix who is watching Dorian dash off.

Felix shakes himself then turns his full attention to Krem. His eyes are beautiful. “Dorain has always been eccentric.”

“I can imagine.” The vision of a half-sized Dorian running around some palatial estate bringing down fire and ruin is surprisingly easy to conjure.

“So, you work for the Inquisition?”

It’s a softball kind of lead in, but Krem appreciates the effort. “Sort of.” He describes his place with Chargers and their work as hired muscle. When he does it right, they sound like freedom fighters instead of mercenaries. Not that Krem thinks there’s anything wrong with earning coin as someone’s muscle, but first impressions are important.

“That must be dangerous work.” Felix is wearing armor and carrying a sword like he knows how to use it. He seems like the kind of guy who knows from dangerous.

He shrugs. “It’s interesting.”

In the corner, Sera jumps up on a table and starts singing. Her voice is out of tune and she cracks half the notes she tries to sing, but she got some smiling waitress up with her and the both look like they’re having a good time. Krem jerks his thumb to the display. “Want to get out of here? Once she gets going it’ll be hours before she’s done.” He stands and offers a hand. Clean and clear about what he wants. Better that way, he’s found.

Felix hesitates, but it’s not a ‘no’ hesitation, it’s a ‘I shouldn’t’ hesitation. “All right.” He reaches up and lets Krem pull him to his feet. “Dorian promised me a tour of the grounds, but we haven’t managed it yet.”

One of the Chargers whistles as they make for the door, Krem just raises a hand in farewell, holds the door for Felix. Outside, the night is cool, even though they’re deep in summer. Up so high in the mountains, it’s still cold most nights. As the door closes behind them, blocking out the light and the sound, Krem crooks his arm, inviting Felix to hook his own through. 

When Felix takes the invitation, Krem does his best not to grin too wide. “It’s prettier in the daylight.”

“Oh, I think this is nice enough.” Felix squeezes his arm.

Krem moves a little closer as they head toward the stairs leading up to the wall. “Aren’t you the sweetest thing?”

A breathy laugh escapes Felix and Krem can feel the sudden flash of heat at his words. “Is it a southern thing? This directness? Dorian seems to have picked it up as well.”

“Something like that.” Krem likes it, the way southerners say what they mean, most times, or at least come with their swords out in front instead of waiting with a dagger in the middle of the night. It’s cleaner, somehow.

At the top of the stairs, Felix sounds winded and the heat from his flush hasn’t died down, so Krem maneuvers them up against a parapet where they can lean against it and Krem can lean in against Felix. They’re pressed together, ankle to waist, as Krem points out the highlights of the ground below.

Felix shivers and Krem loops his arm around Felix’s waist. “Cold?”

A nod, and then Felix’s face is so close to his own, it’s natural to move in toward those inviting lips.

Felix puts up a hand to block his advance, but doesn’t move away. “You can’t kiss me.” He sounds sad, but all Krem hears is the no. He drops his hand from Felix’s waist and puts a little space between them. 

“Sorry, I thought I read that right.”

Another breathy laugh escapes Felix as he leans forward to rest his elbows on the low wall. The moonlight catches in his hair and highlights the arc of his lips. It’s unfairly lovely. “You didn’t read anything wrong.”

“Is it an Altus thing?” Krem isn’t sure if he should be angry or not, so he holds it in check. “We can fuck, but you won’t kiss?” If that’s the case, Krem can make his goodbyes and head back to his room alone. 

“No, no. I’d very much like to kiss you.” He stutters over the word kiss and won’t look at Krem as he speaks. “No, I’m,” he flicks a stone off the wall. “I’m not well. I’ve been afflicted by the blight. You’re friends with Dorian, I’m surprised you haven’t heard.”

Krem is going to kick Dorian in the shins the next time he see him. “He didn’t say.”

“Yes, well. He’s created a spell that contains it. I’m no longer actively dying, but it is still there, trapped inside me. We’re not sure how likely it is to transfer, either. That’s why you shouldn’t kiss me.” He reaches up and traces his fingers along the edge of Krem’s jaw. “Though you’re quite handsome and I deeply regret the missed opportunity.” He sounds so sad, like he expects Krem to walk away now that he knows. Maybe it’s happened before with someone else. 

A light breeze sweeps through the courtyard. At Felix’s shiver, Krem closes the distance between them, slides his hand back around Felix’s waist. He brings Felix’s hand to his lips and presses a kiss against his knuckles, the smooth skin warm and soft. 

Krem is a patient man. And not one to flinch away from something because it’s hard. Felix doesn’t know that, yet and that’s okay. That’s reasonable. They just met. Felix doesn’t know that Krem has faced down some of the scariest shit in Thedas and something like a little bit of the blight doesn’t scare him off. Not much scares him off, these days. 

He kisses Felix’s hand again. “No missed opportunities here.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, cause I'm not writing enough other stuff, there's this. In a pairing that literally does not exist. I don't know what to say.


End file.
